Our Return Journey: Part 2

With our attempts at social distancing, the lineup for our flight check-in seemed incredibly long . Coupled with the tears we'd seen and conversations overheard about missed opportunities, it was clear that this was a fully-booked flight.

As we headed for security, I turned around to look back at hall D. Here was a huge hall, check in area for many different airlines, and there was only one airline with a single flight taking this entire space. What had at first seemed big --- a long queue for our flight on our airline --- now seemed rather small.

Outside of security were the usual signs and a large disposal container for plastic containers and any liquids or other materials that were not permitted onboard an aircraft. We duly discarded the bottles of water that we'd taken with us that morning. I was a little unnerved because I had a small container of hand sanitizer that I would mention to the person who inspected our carry-on bags. There were additional signs about the prohibition of bottles of liquid as we approached the inspection station. There was a security guard controlling the flow of passengers into the inspection area and I confessed to him that I had a bottle of hand sanitizer but he just waved me on through.

At first the inspection seem like the many others I've been through: put your carry-on bags in the trays provided, empty your pockets of keys, coins and all things metal. "I have a bottle of hand sanitizer", I said to the inspector. "Is that okay?"

"It depends", she said. "Let me look at the ingredients."

It's just hand sanitizer", I thought. "What could be the problem?"

"No, you are not permitted to take this on board. You'll have to deposit it in the disposal container"

"But I thought hand sanitizer would be okay under the circumstances", I mumbled, somewhat defensively.

"This is not one of the regular hand sanitizer gels", the inspector pointed out. "This a liquid containing 98% ethanol which is highly flammable."

"Oh. You're absolutely right." I marched straight to the disposal bin where I carefully dropped in the potentially dangerous item.

After finishing with security something strikes me as strange. Something was different. For the past 18 years computers have been scrupulously checked. They have to be removed from their bags and placed in a separate tray. Not this time. Computer bags go through just like any other piece of carry-on baggage.

Heading towards our gate, we passed restaurants and clothing stores, jewelry boutiques and cafes, duty-frees and electronics shops. It was what you would expect to see if the airport was completely closed except that the staff were there, outnumbering potential customers.

When we got to our departure gate, things seemed more normal. People sitting in the banks of gate chairs but spaced out more than usual. Some people had gone over to a neighbouring gate for more space. No problem, since ours was the only flight out of that area of the terminal. The majority of the passengers were seniors but there were also families with children and other travellers.

With the first boarding call, a large number of people stood up ready to board. If you were not aware of the circumstances of this flight you wouldn't have thought anything was out of the ordinary. Boarding proceeded smoothly with everyone onboard and ready to depart in under forty minutes.

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